


Carrots and Candy Canes.

by Swen and Chill (anotherouatwriter)



Series: Baby, it's cold outside. [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Half-Elves, North Pole AU, Santa is a matchmaker, countdown to christmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-02
Updated: 2016-12-02
Packaged: 2018-09-03 19:12:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,208
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8726848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherouatwriter/pseuds/Swen%20and%20Chill
Summary: Emma is one of Santa's Elves and Regina takes care of the reindeers.AU - North Pole.





	

It was not uncommon for Emma to stay until late at the Toy Factory, putting extra effort and care into making her toys. She had recently been promoted for her hard work; she became the head of the ‘Toys for Toddlers’ section. But, she didn’t let her new title go to her head, deep inside she was still Emma, the abandoned half-elf with no family. She buried herself into her work. 

“Emma, dear!” She heard her boss calling her from his office balcony that overlooked the factory, “You’re working yourself too hard.”

“I want the presents to be perfect, Santa.”

He laughed as he went down the stairs. “And they will be, Emma, but you need to rest,” he commented, “I can’t have my best helper getting sick or burning out a week before Christmas.”

Emma smiled at the praise. It was atypical for an orphan who no one had ever wanted to be the best at something.

“It’s not even midnight!” Emma protested, “I won’t be able to fall asleep just yet.”

“Well, then,” Santa scratched his beard, “I have the perfect job for you.” He motioned her to follow him towards one of the factory’s pantries, the ones where they kept the food.

Despite the mess in the pantry, Santa found what he was looking for. He handed Emma a bucket full of carrots and candy canes. Emma looked at him confused.

“I heard the reindeers have been missing you,” he explained with a wink, “Now, shoo! Go get some fresh air!”

“But -“

“No buts!” he shoved her gently towards the door. “Go and feed the reindeers. Besides, you never know what you might find at the stables,” he added with another wink and closed the door, leaving Emma outside of the factory.

Emma huffed and made her way towards the stables. 

It was not as if she disliked them; in fact, Emma loved reindeers. It was probably due to the fact that they had saved her from dying when she was a baby. It was not a secret that the animals had found Emma when she was a baby and brought her to Mrs. Claus. So, as far as she can remember, she had a special bond with the hairy animals. 

But, the stables were always deserted at night, so Emma didn’t like going there.

She pushed the stable’s doors open and closed them behind her. At least, it was not as cold as she thought it would be.

“Hello, Dasher, Dancer,” she petted each reindeer before handing them a carrot.

Emma pet them a little bit longer before going to the next boxed stall.

“You’re getting chubby, Prancer!” the elf giggled, “You get a small one.” The reindeer snorted as as if he understood that dig but started munching on the treat Emma gave her. “Vixen, you on the other hand are skinny as a nail! Is Prancer eating your food?” she talked to the reindeer as if they would understand what she said, “Here, have two carrots.”

“What are you doing?” another voice startled her. She dropped the bucket, thankfully, on outside of Prancer’s stall. He would have eaten all the carrots and the candy canes.

Emma turned around to see another elf in the stables. Emma was left speechless. She was almost as tall as Emma, and her ears were not as pointy, which meant she was a half-elf as well. However, Emma’s jaw dropped, not because she was a half-elf, but because she was beautiful. Her skin was a little bit darker, somewhere between olive and gold, and her hair was brown as chocolate. It looked so silky that Emma wanted to run her hands through it.

“I asked you a question,” the brunette pointed out, bringing Emma back to reality. During Emma’s haze, she didn’t notice that the other girl had walked towards her and they were standing face to face.

“I - um…” she raised the bucket. “Santa told me to come get some air.”

“And of course, you decided to come and feed my reindeers.”

“Hey! They are _my_ reindeers too.”

“They are not,” the brunette said in an authoritarian tone. “I’m the reindeer keeper, you are a toy maker.”

Emma snorted. The brunette may be pretty but she was obnoxious and lacked niceties.

“They saved me when I was a baby,” Emma explained, even though she didn’t know why she was telling this to her. The brunette’s face softened. There was a small smile there, and it almost killed Emma.

“So, you’re that elf.”

“ _Half-elf_ ,” Emma corrected her.

“I noticed,” she rolled her eyes. “I think Comet and Cupid are jealous that you haven’t fed them just yet,” the brunette pointed out and stepped aside so that Emma could continue feeding the animals.

Emma continued on feeding carrots to the reindeers in silence, passing from Comet and Cupid to Donner and Blitzen. Next to her, the other girl kept her eyes trained on Emma and keeping up the silence. It was not until she fed Blitzen that she decided to break the silence.

“I’m Emma,” she said. The brunette nodded and remained in silence “And your name is…?” the blonde tried to dig for more information, because she wanted to know more details about the brunette.

“Regina.”

“Regina,” she repeated, loving how the name rolled off her tongue, “How come I’ve never seen you before?”

“I keep to myself,” Regina answered. What she meant was that she avoids other elves - purebred elves - because they loved teasing her. And, Emma knew that because she was teased by the elves as well.

“I understand.”

“You do?” Regina looked at her with eyes wide open as saucers.

“Yeah, I think all half-elves do,” Emma shrugged, “I drown myself working on my toys. It’s not like I have a choice, they never invite me to their social outings.”

They reached the last stall. In it, there was Rudolph, one of Emma’s favorites, and a new reindeer.

“Oh, my Gods!” Emma commented, excited as she entered the stall, “Who had a baby?”

The other girl giggled and followed Emma in, “Vixen. I just moved the little babe into this stall.” Regina sat next to Emma, who was already sitting down between the baby reindeer and the wooden wall.

“Aren’t you the handsomest of them all?” Emma commented as she scratched the little reindeer’s ears and leaning backwards, resting against the wall.

“I think the correct phrase is ‘ _Fairest_ ,’ dear,” the brunette corrected and mimicked Emma, her back more straighter that the blonde's arched back.

“But he’s a guy. He’s handsome,” the blonde tried to argue, "Right, kid?”

“He still doesn't have a name, you know?” Regina said. "Santa let me name him, but I can't think of a name."

Emma nodded, "Candy cane?"

Regina snorted, "That's a terrible name."

"Oh, no..." Emma laughed, "I was _offering_ you a candy cane."

Regina turned and watched how Emma had her arm extended towards her, holding the bucket that now only held candy canes.

Blushing, Regina grabbed one and began to unwrap it. “Thanks," she said in a barely audible voice tone as she put her head on Emma's shoulder.

Emma smiled but kept quiet. Regina shouldn't be thanking her. Instead, they should be thanking Santa.

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any Christmas prompt for me, feel free to leave it on the comment section!


End file.
